New ferry service in the Rockaways and more in the QNYC Evening Edition for Monday November 12, 2012

The Rockaways get temporary ferry service

It’s great to read about the Rockaways getting a break in this post-Sandy world, no matter how small or large it is. This new temporary ferry service is a great break for the people there, since it is impossible to get through Jamaica Bay by train these days because of the damage to the tracks at Broad Channel. The ferry essentially goes between the Rockaways and Manhattan and service started this morning. Here are the details:

Ferries will depart from Beach 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive (GMAP), where the Economic Development Corporation has been working to install a temporary landing, and stop at Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan with free transfers between Pier 11 and East 34th Street in Midtown. The service will start at 5:45 AM in the Rockaways with ferries departing for Manhattan regularly until 9:20 AM, with regular service resuming during the evening rush. One-way fares will be $2.

Great ramen in Astoria

The Times Ledger has published a review of HinoMaru Ramen, a relatively new Japanese restaurant on Ditmars Blvd in Astoria. It’s different from a lot of Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood, which are mostly sushi joints (apart from Linn, which makes amazing sushi and other Japanese food). The reviewer especially praises the pork gyoza and variety of ramen dishes available. We’ll add that we are fond of their Niku Man, a sort of sandwich made with pork belly.

The trees in Queens also suffered during recent storms

We’ve learned that of all the boroughs, Queens lost the most trees during Hurricane Sandy and the following nor’easter. Current records indicate that “About half of the 20,000-plus calls to the city’s 311 line for downed trees and branches as well as hanging limbs came from Queens after the super-storm. And roughly 2,000 of the 3,000 requests received after the nor’easter were also traced to Queens.” Even places that didn’t get flooded had trees down. Forest Park took a big hit and there are a number of trees and branches that fell in Astoria Park. This was not a good time for the trees.

Louis Armstrong music history factoid, right here

According to the Louis Armstrong House, today marks a special anniversary. From their twitter feed: “First Louis Armstrong Hot 5 session, recorded today in 1925! Here’s the first record released, “Gut Bucket Blues.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgxQQk1vadw]

MLS is confident Queens will welcome the new soccer stadium

Major League Soccer commissioned a survey and discovered through the results that 71% of the 650 Queens registered voters surveyed approve of the stadium. People are generally enthused about professional soccer coming to the borough and are also excited about the new jobs the stadium and franchise will create.